Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The east-west border issue is de-dramatised automatically when we recall that the island is, for the purposes of quarantine and animal health and protection, regarded as "fortress Ireland" in any event. I assume that Michel Barnier was referring to that type of thing. None of us wants an east-west border, and certainly not a north-south border, but this is the hand we have been dealt; it is not of our making. Does the Taoiseach share the view of Michel Barnier that the Single Market cannot be cherry-picked? The four freedoms exist and the integrity of the market must be respected in its totality. Is the Taoiseachad idemwith Mr. Barnier on that point? I ask that question in the full knowledge that there is a necessity for a bespoke arrangement for the island of Ireland, and that our European partners are prepared to extend that or to depart marginally from that principle to accommodate Ireland. I assume that we will continue to press for that.

Yesterday I asked the Taoiseach about the backstop, which was politically conceived in December and which found expression in March. I require clarification on one aspect of his response. He said that negotiations were still open. My clear understanding is that the European text, that iteration of the backstop, is not still a matter for negotiations and that it is the European position. Can the Taoiseach please confirm that is the case? Can he also confirm that it is not just the European answer at this juncture, but that it is the backstop, as far as Ireland is concerned, at the moment?

The Taoiseach said that he was not hung up on legal text, and that it is about the outcome rather than the legal text. Of course, the outcome matters, but it is only enforceable on the basis of the legal text that underpins it. This is all about legal text, so I suggest that the Taoiseach should be hung up on it.

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